Harder to Break Free
by BeyondTheStars12
Summary: Kairi just moved to Destiny Island from the little island of Sunshine. KairI has had a ruff past and is willing to go to extreme measures to change her life. As she continues her life in Destiny High School, she meets friends, enemies, and herself. But with a dangerous past, it may be hard to break free of her fate.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The car engine stops. My eyes meet his. He smiles and squeezes my hand. "It'll be ok, Kairi." My dad's words should make me feel better, but I can hardly breathe. I can tell he's exhausted from this move. He has dark circles around his eyes, his auburn hair sticking out in places, and he can't stop drinking coffee. We just moved to Destiny Island, which is supposed to be the most populated island of the four. My dad, I, and my sister, Aqua, lived on the island north of here. Sunshine Island was where I was born. I lived there for the 15 years of my life, but now I'm here. Dad insisted we moved here because we had lived on the normal quiet island for most of our lives. I disagreed, but Aqua seemed to enjoy the idea. Aqua is the brainiac of our family. She was on the mathletes last year, as well as the advanced math classes. Aqua's group of friends consisted of mostly smart geeks. At least she has friends. I, on the other hand, am a different story. I was probably the 'not extremely popular girl, but isn't a loser' of my school. It's not that I don't want friends, but I just have a hard time making them. I figured if we did move might try to fit in. At my old school, Sunshine High, I had around 4 friends that I could count on. This time, I want to have that amount by the end of today. Like every kid who has to go to a completely new school, in a whole new place, I was nervous. My hair was piled in my dad's business cap, and my short sleeved jacket was zipped tight. My fingers are red and sweaty. I wipe them on my dark jeans, and pray I don't die today. Aqua seems fine, which is normal. Sometimes I think she doesn't even have emotion. Dad decides to break the silence, "Kairi, don't worry about not fitting in. You're an amazing and talented girl, anyone would love to have you as a friend." I smile, he is the only who gets me. I pick up my bag, "Thanks dad." I climb out of the car, and stand next to Aqua. I haven't noticed that she is a full head taller than me. She probably got her height from mom. Mom. I never knew her. Once I was born, she started acting weird. One night she just cracked. I don't exactly remember what happened, but she left my dad. All these years and she has never came back. When I was older, Aqua told me that mom couldn't handle having to take care of us. I never ask our dad, because it's really painful. Dad waves to us, and drives off. I sigh. No way to escape this nightmare. Aqua turns to me with a sad smile, "This is a new place. It all starts with 'hi my name is Kairi', it isn't rocket science." To me it might as well be. I nod, " I'll try."

I smile a confident smile to hide my walk into the 'Destiny High' office. Dad dropped us off really early so we could get our schedule and stuff ready. There are barely any students here, except the students' of teachers. Aqua walks to the lady at the front desk, "Excuse, I'm Aqua Lange and this my little sister, Kairi, were here to get our schedule." The lady looks up at us. Her blonde hair is put in a messy pony tail, and her glasses look like they are about to fall of her nose. Her eyes are green and glassy, and she has long thick eye lashes. Her thin lips form a smile, " You two must be new here, welcome to DHS. I'm Mrs. Crown, or the office lady by the students." I smile at her, and Mrs. Crown hands us our schedule. Since Aqua is a grade older than me, so I won't have any classes with her, which will suck for me. I head to my locker and put my books away. This is the 3 week of school for the kids who started already, so I hope I'm not too behind. I shut my locker and nearly die because a girl is in my personal space. "Wha-" I start to say but I end up falling backward onto the floor. "Oh my gosh! I'm SO sorry!" the girl grabs my arm and yanks me off the floor. With a pull like that I bet she could rip someone's arm off. I steady myself with my locker, I finally be able to see this girl. This girl is very petite, with brown hair that sticks out on the sides and two strands of hair fall from either side of her head, just long enough to drape over her shoulders. She also has big green eyes that match her skin. The girl is wearing a short sleeve orange shirt with matching khaki shorts. Her shoes are like everyone's shoes, flip flops. She smiles slightly, but then let's out a big sigh, " I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to startle you." I chuckle, " It's fine, and it was an accident after all." Her smile brightens, "Exactly! Hey," she taps her chin, " is your name Kairi?" Wow. I haven't even been in the school for a whole 20 minutes and I already have someone ask me my name. No, not ask my name, KNOW my name. "Yea, I'm Kairi. I just moved here." The girl clasps here hands together, " Oh goodie! Well, Kairi, I'm Olette. I'm the president of our school council. I'm supposed to welcome you to our school." A welcome comity, that's something new. "So you run the 'welcome comity'." I ask. Olette laughs, " Nah, there isn't an 'actual' welcome comity. That's just me being nice. Can I see your schedule?" I hand her the piece of paper with my classes. She glazes over the paper fairly quick, then hands it back. " You're in a few classes with me, but I'll introduce you to my friends." I nod, and Olette talks some more about herself. She is a perfect grade student with high academic skills, and she loves to write. Olette lives with her mom, who happens to be the principal of our school, on the west side of the island. She told me that's why she was here early, because it takes her 50 minutes just to get to school. Olette was going to tell me about some of her friends when the bell rang. "Oh well," she sighed. " I'll see you in English class." And with that she walked off.

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Phew, first chapter done. Please review, tell me what you think so far, and any ideas, ways to make it better. Plus I don't own KH, I only own the plot.

Ta Ta


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
I told myself just two classes until I see Olette, but I knew it would be awhile. My first class was math, which I'm surprising good at. I felt that all eyes were glued on me. I glanced over my shoulder. I knew I heard whispering, and by none other than the popular Barbie brats. The girls who cared about nothing more than having a boyfriend and making lower class people's life miserable. One girl with honey colored hair with brown eyes giggled a comment made by a girl with black hair. The black hair one probably was a year or so older than me, but with the body she had I bet she could pass as a woman in college. Then there was a girl with orange hair with a perfect smile. I never let people's words get me down, but this is the first day, they can't know me. I do my best to ignore them, and when the bell rings, I hurry out of class. I head to my locker, and gather my thing for my geography class. Mr. Bates, our geography teacher, is very strict about tardiness. Fortunate for me, I was the first in the class. I choose a desk near the front, but not clear in the front. We were half way through the class, when the door shot open. In came a girl with light blonde hair and blue eyes. She let out sigh and pulled a piece of hair out of her face. Mr. Bates looked like he was about to explode. The blonde slid into her seat, and pulled out her books. Mr. Bates walked slowly to her desk, soon he was right in front of it. He cleared his throat, "Namine," he sounded calm. Oops, spoke to soon. " WHERE WERE YOU!" The blonde or Namine looked terrified, " I'm sorry Mr. Bates. You see I-" Mr. Bates shook his head, "This is your last warning." She nodded, as he made his way to his desk. He gave us some homework, which I finished in class, so we had 5 minutes of free time. Namine was sitting next to me, she had just gotten done. I could tell she was watching my every movement. Our eyes meet. We stare at each other for the longest of time. Her eyes don't leave mine, "Hi I'm Namine." I see her hand reach over, and I move mine to meet hers. I realize I haven't told her my name, "I'm Kairi, I'm new." Namine nods her head, "Yeah I know. Olette texted me." Wow, I never had anyone tell their friends about me. I think I really like this school. "So," I break the silence. " Who are those girls back there?" Namine rolls her eyes, "I guess I might as well tell you." She takes in a deep breath, "Ok this might be long. Do you see the one with wavy honey blonde hair?" I glance over my shoulder and nod. "We'll, her name is Layla Criswell. She is, has been, and will be the most popular girl in our school." I kind of figured. Layla has all the popular girl factors. Nice hair. Pretty face. Clear skin. Namine sighs, " Me and her used to be best friends in middle school and before that too. Then our first year of high school came. Layla was only interest in making herself more pretty and popular. One day she was my best friend, and the next day she was a completely different person. She only cares about herself." I nod. Of course they only care about themselves. That's like the number one rule of being popular. "What about the two others?" Namine smiles, "Oh yeah, the ginger is named KatieBell Miller. She prefers to be called Kate, but mostly every adult calls her by her real name. It kills her to be called KatieBell." I tap my chin, "Why?" Namine shrugs. Maybe it was because she got made fun of her name. I used to get made of my name, until I beat up the one who started it. "Anyway," Namine gestures toward the one with black hair. " that's Nerva Roshie. Known for her-" I cut her off, "her body, I can see why." Namine giggles, "Yeah, boys have the tendency to drool when she walks by. It doesn't help that she wears the most skimpiest clothes in our school." I notice Nerva's clothing choice. No wonder the boys drool. That is the most lowest and short tank top I have ever seen. My thoughts are interrupted by Mr. Bates, "Ok class, we are going to take a field trip to a mountain range to look a land forms. I need this by Friday." Oh course dad will let me go. Anything for his sweet heart. The bell rings. Finally Geography class done, and time for my class with Olette. But now I have two friends, which is so awesome for me. I head to the English class room. Olette is already in there scribbling something down. "Hi!" I approach her. Her head snaps up, and she smiles, " Hey Kairi, how we're you're classes?" I shrug, " Pretty good, what about you?" Olette puts some of her things away, " I'm good too. Have you met Namine?" I was wondering when she was going to bring that up, "Yup, we talked in Geography. Do you know why she was late." Olette's smile vanishes. Oh god, I must of said something wrong. I react quickly, "I'm so sorry, did I say something to offend you?" It comes out quick but understandable. She shakes her head, "Oh no, you didn't say offend me it's just-" when Olette is about to tell me a woman with auburn, like mine, walks in the room. I assume she's the teacher. The lady fixes her scarf and then moves her glasses. Olette taps a desk beside her, signaling for me to sit in it. Most of the kids pile in the room and find seats. One boy gets my attention. He has brown spiky hair, which looks gravity deifying. I wonder if he uses gel or if it's just natural. He's walking with an albino kid, who is almost as tall as Aqua. Which is saying something. I've never been interested in boys before, but I have a weird feeling towards the brunette. The teacher en rang a shiny silver bell, "Attention, attention class." The noise calms down into whisper, as the teacher pulls out a clipboard. "Ok, time for attendance." She calls out names like a girl named Slephie, who seems like she's hyper, and a boy named Tidus, and a few other random people. The teacher calls Olette's name, and the albino kid's name, which is Riku. Then the spiky brunette. Sora. His smile makes my heart flutter. "And Kairi." she pronounces my name perfectly, which my other new teachers haven't been able to do. I raise my hand. Her eyes study me. It feels like I'm a rare flower and she is the scientist studying my unique petals. "A-are you new Kairi?" she shutters. I can feel my face heating up, "Yes." The teacher is leaning against her desk, and I can hear her breathing quickly, "From where?" No other teacher asked me these questions, "From Sunshine Island." The woman nods, "I-it's good to have you here." She gives a weak smile, " I'm Ms. Kara." I feel the tension lift from my shoulders. We begin our class with talking about what we already know, and then she assigned a project. We were going to be put into groups of our choice(thank god), and we were going to write about describing each other's. The catch was that the person you were describing couldn't tell you anything about them. You were going to have to describe that person from your opinions. Olette picks our group, which consists of the hyper Slephie, and me. I will be describing Slephie, Slephie will describe Olette, and Olette will describe me. At first we just talk, and it seems that Slephie is actually pretty funny and random. "Hey Kai Kai," Slephie nudges me. I can't believe we haven't even known each other for an hour and I already have a nick name. "Why was the teacher bein a stalker?" Olette agrees, "I was wondering that too." I wouldn't call that stalking. Maybe curious. "I don't know. It's the first time today though." Slephie gets up to go get her pencil, and leaves me with Olette. She scoots closer to me, "Hey Kairi, about Namine being late..." I nod and face her. "We'll, Namine isn't the smartest person. No one is, but she has a real hard time in math. Sometimes she skips geography and other classes to be tutored by a freshman. That's why she was late." I feel kinda bad for Namine. It's hard to work with something you don't understand. "Also, she hasn't told her parents." Olette glances across the room and moves away from me. I feel a presence behind me. I turn to see Tidus, the blonde tanned boy. "Heya Kairi! I'm Tidus!" His hand almost smacks my face. Tidus grips my hand and shakes like crazy. "N-nice t-t-to m-me-e-t yo-u." I manage to get out. He smiles nice and big, and calls another friend over. His friend is very muscular with his orange hair being held up by a bandanna. "Yo I'm Wakka." His grip is much better than Tidus'. Slephie prances back over to us, "I thought you'd like to meet some more people." I smile, "Thanks Slephie." She claps her hands and sits back down. Once class is over we head to lunch with Tidus and Wakka. Namine catches up with us, and we all go and sit together. I have 5 friends already, which is a record for me. We talk about a lot of things, and the rest of the day goes by fast. In a blink of an eye the last bell rings.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
I walk home with my new friends since they live extremely close to us. Seriously, Namine lives three houses down, Tidus lives in the front of our neighborhood, and Wakka lives near the back. Aqua tells me about two boys she met, and how she advanced three classes in just one day. One by one, we all go our house. As me and Aqua approach our house I see Dad talking with a man with slightly spiky brown hair. Dad notices me and Aqua, and waves for us. I notice the man's features. He's about a few inches taller than Dad, and he has very blue eyes. They seem to brighten his face.  
"Kairi, Aqua, let me introduce you to our neighbor next door, this is Mr. Hikari."  
The man's smile warms my heart; it reminds me of Sora's.  
Aqua waves, "Hello sir, I'm Aqua, it's a pleasure to meet you."  
Of course Aqua uses her fancy talk.  
I smile and stand on my tip toes (cause right now I'm the shortest in the group), "Hi, I'm Kairi!"  
He smiles, "What grade are you two in?"  
I'm getting tired standing on my toes so I decide to rock on my heels. "I'm in 11th grade while Kairi is in 10th." Aqua explains.  
Mr. Hikari's face brightens, "Two of my sons are in 10th. While one is in 11th."  
Just as he says that a boy with golden blonde hair steps outside. His hair isn't as spiky as Sora's but does have a resemblance. Aqua takes in a sharp breath with makes me glance over to her. Her face is calm but her eyes show questioning.  
The man notices what we're looking at, "Oh that's one of my sons. Roxas come here."  
The boy walks over to us, starring up at the sky. I notice he is wearing a black shirt with loose knee high jeans.  
"Roxas this is Kairi, Aqua, and Mr. Lange. They just moved her from... from..." He points at each of and then stops while he's pointing at Dad.  
My dad catches on, "Sunshine Island." Mr. Hikari snaps his figures, "That's it. Anyway, Roxas, Kairi's in your grade."  
Me and Roxas exchange glances, and he looks me up and down. He nods and keeps quiet. Aqua goes to do homework, and my dad keeps talking. I walk to the garage to get my skate board, I have no homework to do and don't feel like unpacking. I just go in circles for a while, and do some 360 spins. I look over to see Roxas watching me, with his phone tapping me.  
I stop, "What the heck!" I yell.  
My dad went to their backyard, so I doubt he could hear me.  
Roxas chuckles, "About what?"  
I glare at him, "Stop tapping me you stalker."  
He laughs this time, which makes me want to tackle him, "Sorry, that I thought you're moves were pretty cool."  
I relax, "Really?"  
He nods; I can see he's texting or something. Roxas lifts his head up from the screen, "Can you do it again?" I smile and nod.  
I repeat the tricks, and add a little more in. Once I'm done Roxas applauds. Just as he finishes clapping, a car pulls in their drive way. I couldn't see inside the red truck but I could see many figures. First a woman stepped out. She has long Carmel hair that flows down her back. Her clothes are a blitzball jersey, with the colors of our school (teal and white). I'm confused with who steps out next. He looks exactly like Roxas, like he could be his twin. I'm absolutely shock who steps out of the truck. It's Sora. And then Tidus, Riku, and Wakka. Roxas waves to the woman, "Hey Ma."  
The woman looks over to us, "Hey Hun, whose you're friend?"  
The boys notice what Roxas' mom is asking about.  
Tidus' face brightens, "Kairi! My man- wait, my... friend who is- a girl. Yeah that's it! Kairi!"  
Tidus bounces across the yard and nearly tackles me. Right before I'm about to be squashed, Wakka grabs Tidus' back collar, "Yo man, calm down! You're so much like Slephie, ya."  
Tidus laughs, "We'll we hang out a lot, I guess her hyperness must have gotten to me."  
I can see Sora, Riku, Roxas' twin, and Roxas' mom walking over to us. I tuck a stray piece of hair behind my ear. WHY AM I ACTING LIKE THIS! First comparing everything like Sora. Now I'm tucking a piece of hair away. I'm wearing a hat, it's not like they can see my hair anyway.  
"Mom," Roxas steps forward, "this is Kairi, she just moved here and she's in our grade."  
I smile and nudge Roxas with my elbow, "Thanks for the full introduction Roxie, but I'll handle it now."  
The others laugh, while a light blush appears on his face.  
"I'm Mrs. Hikari, but you can all me Stacey." the woman smiles.  
She then feels her head, "Oh! Where are my manners? I sure you've met Roxas, as well as Tidus and Wakka, but I'll introduce the others. This is Riku," she points to the spiky silver haired teen. I have to admit, he looks rather muscular. STOP IT KAIRI! Riku gives a small wave. She then points to Roxas' twin, "This is Ventus, he's Roxas' twin if you haven't noticed."  
Ventus smiles and waves to me. He looks exactly like Roxas. No wonder they're twins! "And this is my Sora."  
OMG. Sora lives next door. I can't breathe. Sora smiles a goofy grin. Just then my dad comes around from their back yard with Mr. Hikari behind him.  
"Oh hunny, I can see you've met Kari." He says.  
She nods, "And who might you be?" She points to my father.  
I step up, "That's my dad."  
He comes by my side and wraps an arm around my shoulder, "You can't see the resemblance with that hat on."  
Dad tries to yank my hat off, but I grip on tight.  
He stops, "Fine you win." I sigh.  
That was close. Then the next thing I know a feel something grip my hat. Dad. My hair falls perfectly around my face and around my shoulders. My bangs tickle my right eyelashes. I see everyone flabbergasted. But why. I'm not that pretty am I? I guess so because everyone is staring at me.  
Dad ruffles my hair, "She gets it from me."  
Sora chuckles (which makes me want to die), "I can see why."  
Stacey snaps her fingers, "Hey since you guys are still unpacking, why don't you come over to our house for dinner?"  
Dad shakes his head, "We wouldn't want to impose."  
Stacey laughs, "We already have these boys to feed," she points to Tidus and the rest of them, "what's a few more."  
My dad nods, he tells them well be over in a few minutes. I fill in Aqua about the boys, and she starts acting crazy, for an unknown reason. She puts on nice clothes, makeup, and keeps asking if she should change. She ends up wearing a blue frilly tank top, with a long black skirt. Dad and us head over to their house. Aqua is checking her hair as we walk up the steps to the porch. Dad dings the doorbell and we see a figure approach, and its Stacey.  
She opens the door, "Hello, come in. We're all outside, while Vale uses the grill."  
We follow her to the sliding back doors leading to the back yard. Their house is very clean; it sorta reminds me of our old house. We all step onto the back porch, and the smell of something burning comes in my nose. I can Mr. Hikari cooking in front of the grill, and the boys are sitting in lawn chairs. My dad takes a seat, as well as Aqua, and Stacey. I sit between Aqua and Tidus (even though I rather sit beside Sora).  
My dad was the first to speak, "So are all these boys yours?"  
Tidus laughed, "She wishes."  
I smacked his arm, and he mouthed 'ow'.  
"Oh no, only Sora, Roxas, and Ven are mine. The rest are from the blitzball team." Stacey laughs.  
Mr. Hikari takes a break and sits by his wife, "So, do you girl do anything?"  
Aqua quickly replies, "I'm not such a sporty gal, but I'm into major advanced classes."  
Dad laughs, "Aqua is a real brainiac."  
Stacey smiles, "Ven is our family genius."  
Aqua and Ven exchange nervous glances. I wonder why.  
"What about you Kairi?" Mr. Hikari asks.  
Right before I'm about to answer, Aqua answers, "Kairi takes Kung Fu."  
"Um no I don't." I reply.  
"Um, yes you do."  
I'm getting annoyed, "Aqua stop it, I don't take kung Fu."  
Aqua grunts, "You say that now."  
I slap Aqua's arm hard, and she yelps.  
My dad answers the question, "Kairi used to take volleyball and track in middle school, but quit when she went into high school."  
Stacey stands, "Why don't you men come and help me get plates?"  
My dad and Mr. Hikari follow behind.  
Tidus leans in close by me, "Hey Aqua," Aqua turns to face him, "what 2,764,958,474 times 3746?"  
Five seconds later, "1,035, 763, 283, 604."  
Tidus then started to do air math.  
Riku chuckled, "He probably won't be done till next Monday."  
We all chuckle, except Tidus who just puffs out his cheeks.  
"KAIRI!" Aqua screams at me.  
I look over at her, "What?" I try not to sound annoyed but I can't help it.  
Aqua doesn't even glance at me, "Never mind."  
I sigh, and turn to Tidus who is still trying to do the math.  
"I didn't know you lived next door Aqua." Ventus says.  
Aqua nods very slowly, "Um, yeah. Sorry I didn't mention it earlier."  
He smiles weakly, "It's no problem. Maybe we can practice math together."  
Aqua nods, and her and Ven go into a full conversation about calculating the distance of the island. The rest of the nigh goes smoothly. I only talk to Sora a few times, but I get to know Riku, Tidus, and Roxas more. Riku lives right across the street from us, and has an older brother named Terra. Aqua almost chokes when he mentions the name. Tidus and Slephie have a lot in common. First they're both hyper and talk like CRAZY. Second they say random things at the most random moments. Soon it's almost eight. The adults stay outside while we head inside. We all go into the living room where I see something I haven't seen in years. A piano. I run my hands over the smooth top. It sends shivers down my spine.  
"Do you play?" I see Sora standing behind me.  
I nod, "I used to."  
He smiles slightly, "Yeah, it's my mom's. She's the music teacher at our school."  
I walk towards the keys and do a simple C scale. I haven't heard piano since my mom left us. She played, but after she left, Dad destroyed our piano. Sora's fingers drape over the keys. He plays a slow tune. I follow his lead, and soon we have a slow song filling the room. We end the song, and I pull my hand away quickly, like it the keys were hot. My fingers tinkle and twitch as I examine them.  
Sora watches me, "Are you ok?"  
I nod. Soon we say our good byes and head back to our house. Maybe change is good.

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I could really use some reviews people. Pointer, tips, anything! PLEASE!


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